Mass resistance vote puts school closures on agenda

Teachers have threatened nationwide strikes to close down schools after declaring a campaign of âmass resistanceâ against the government.

Education Secretary Michael Gove (Picture: PA)

Teaching unions agreed âcomplete oppositionâ to the idea of regional pay rates they say could drive down their salaries and conditions.

They also mooted further walk-outs in response to the spread of education academies, just days after it emerged more than half of all schools want academy status.

Critics of education secretary Michael Goveâs push for academies accused him of âprivatisingâ the education system and removing local control.

Mondayâs declaration raises the prospect of school strikes next term and through the autumn.

But the government hit back, accusing unions of going over the top.

âItâs a bit overblown to threaten ââmass resistanceââ when no union knows what it is actually resisting,â said a spokesman for the Department for Education.

The department also said theÂ unionsâ stance on academies was âswimming against the tide of scores of schoolsâ. The government hasÂ already imposed a two-year pay freeze on teachers, with salary rises held at one per cent for the two years to follow.

National Union of Teachers conference delegates backed a motion vowing âcomplete oppositionâ to government proposals for âregional pay and conditions arrangementsâ.

Tony Dowling, an NUT member from Gateshead, said: âThis is not just an attack on pay and it is not just an attack on teachers.

âIt is about the fragmentation and privatisation of education.â

He called for all unions, not just those in education, to call a national strike in protest.

NUT general secretary Christine Blower said: âDepressing publicÂ sector pay in areas where there isÂ generally lower pay would only serve to further depress local economies.

The motion passed at the NUTâs Torquay conference demanded the Trades Union Congress this autumn backs âmaximum unity against any measures to introduce local pay and attacks on pensionsâ.